BREMERTON — St. Vincent de Paul Bremerton says it has lined up all $22.4 million it needs to build 38 affordable homes and expand its emergency shelter for women and children, though part of that money still needs a Kitsap County vote next week.
A $3 million grant from the Seattle-based Medina Foundation, awarded in October, closed the last gap in the first phase of the organization’s Star of Hope campaign, the nonprofit announced Monday.
The $22.4 million total counts about $2.57 million in 2027 county housing grants that commissioners are scheduled to vote on Nov. 9: a recommended $1.88 million for the project’s four-story, 38-unit building and $685,783 for 17 added shelter beds. The county money is part of $7.8 million in 2027 housing grants on the commissioners’ agenda, and full funding depends on that vote, according to Executive Director Joseph Crain.
If the money comes through, construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2027 and take about 12 months.
The work will be on St. Vincent de Paul’s property at North Callow Avenue and 13th Street. The first phase includes:
- 38 homes for very-low-income residents: 10 transitional units and 28 permanent supportive housing units, including homes for women rebuilding their lives after incarceration. Those residents will come mainly from the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor, with referrals from elsewhere considered case by case.
- 17 more emergency shelter beds at the Birkenfeld-Stella Maris House, raising its capacity from 30 to 47 beds for women and children.
- A renovated Neighborhood Market & Resource Center, where families pick up groceries and meet with case managers.
- Support services for residents, including housing navigation, job assistance, mental health care, health care and education.
“For the first time, a mother arriving at our door with her children will be able to walk a complete path from emergency shelter to a home of her own, all on one campus, surrounded by people who know her name,” said Crain.
Kitsap County has 12 affordable homes for every 100 very-low-income households that need one, according to the Kitsap County Department of Human Services figures cited by the nonprofit. Many families end up cycling between shelters, cars and couches, the organization said.
Funders include the state of Washington, Kitsap County, the Medina Foundation, the Ben B. Cheney Foundation, the Harnish Foundation and the Norcliffe Foundation, along with local businesses, parishes and individual donors. The project also has support from the Kitsap County Affordable Housing Consortium, whose members are St. Vincent de Paul, the Bremerton Housing Authority, Kitsap Mental Health Services, Housing Kitsap and Kitsap Community Resources.
“State and County funders, foundations, businesses, faith communities and individual donors all believed that every woman and child in Kitsap County deserves a safe place to call home,” Crain said.
A second phase could add more than 70 affordable homes, child care assistance, an early learning center and a community gathering space, according to the nonprofit. Beacon Development and the Bremerton Housing Authority will lead that phase.
Construction money does not cover running the larger shelter. Each shelter bed costs $3,942 a year in donated funds, the organization said, and it is asking donors to sponsor a bed or join its Vincentian Club monthly giving program.
St. Vincent de Paul Bremerton, also known as the Conference of Our Lady Star of the Sea, has served Kitsap County since 1937. Besides the shelter and market, it runs the Thrift Superstore in Bremerton.
The organization said it will announce a groundbreaking ceremony in the coming months. More information is at svdpbremerton.com.
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